Can you tell me how much a 747-100 weighs without engines and fuel?- question from Harry Hellyer

Before I answer this question, I feel the need to point out that if anyone is having ideas about making a
747 glider, then I am not responsible for whatever you
manage to do to yourself or anyone else during your test flight. Also, keep in mind that these numbers are all
either taken from public sources, or roughly estimated, so don't blame me when your parquet floor can't hold up
the weight of your displayed 747. That said, let me continue...

This question can be answered rather quickly, with a couple references. But, being the detail minded engineer that
I am, there is a lot more detail to explore.

First, the easy answer. The 747-100B weighs 373,300 lb empty, which means no crew, no payload, and no fuel. In
most aircraft, not all of the fuel in the tanks is actually "usable." Some of the fuel is inaccessible to the
pumps, and is called "unusable fuel." This unusable fuel is usually included in the empty weight, and I didn't
factor that into my calculations. The 747-100B has four engines, and for this little exercise, we will assume it
is fitted with Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7A turbofans, which weigh in at 8,850 lb each, for a total of 35,400 lb. If
we subtract the four engines from the empty weight, we get the weight of the 747-100B without fuel or engines:
337,900 lb. This works out to about 46% of the maximum takeoff weight, which is 735,000 lb.

Now, as I mentioned before, the only reason I can see for calculating this number is for a display aircraft, where
only the engines are removed prior to display. Since I am an engineer (not to be confused with "geek"), I decided
to keep going. Anything beyond this point is a rough estimate (not that it matters). Let's consider for a moment
that we actually were trying to construct a 747 glider. Since we no longer need engines or fuel, we don't need the
fuel system, the engine controls, or the nacelles (the engine "pods"). Using an aircraft design textbook, the
weights of these items can be estimated.

Fuel system: 1,440 lb
Engine controls: 115 lb
Nacelles: 11,120 lb

This gives us a new "clean" weight of 325,225 lb. Even though these numbers are rough estimates, there are still a
few abnormalities to consider before we build our 747 glider. We need the auxiliary power unit (APU) to power the
hydraulics and other avionics. While the weight of the APU is still included, we need to add some fuel to power
it. Pressurization will now become a bit of a problem without the added engine power, but I would assume we won't
need pressurization where we'll be gliding, so we could probably make some serious weight reductions by scaling
down the structure. There are other issues too, but I don't imagine too many of you have read this far, so I'll be
quiet now.
- answer by Doug Jackson(who actually is a geek), 4 November 2001